Woe is our education standard ..

A University professor wrote an expressive message to his students at the doctorate, masters and bachelors levels and placed it at the entrance in a university in South Africa. 

And this is the message;

*"Collapsing any nation does not require use of atomic bombs or the use of long range missiles. It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in the examinations by the students".*

The patient dies in the hands of such doctors

And the buildings collapse in the hands of such engineers

And the money is lost in the hands of such accountants

And humanity dies in the hands of such religious scholars

And justice is lost in the hands of such judges...

*"The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation"*

The tenacity of the Malaysian Chinese schools

The perpetual struggles, persecutions, intimidations and challenges faced by the Chinese schools in Malaysia. Through it all, the stakeholders persevere to overcome all these obstacles to provide a quality education for our children sake. These human capital can compete globally with their multi-lingual literacy and skills.

How the Board of Trustees Make Vernacular Schools a Success...

The Denial:

The education or language nationalists don't want to touch on the real reason why vernacular schools seem to have higher quality: Accountability through the independent board of trustee system.

The Rejection:

Vernacular schools are essentially semi-private schools. They have had the gut to stand up against the Ministry of Education, and refused to let MOE have full control over the school land and building - especially the front lines of canteens and bookstores.

The Source of Anger:

That is very upsetting to the UMNO-controlled MOE, because then UMNO's local division chiefs' cronies can't get into the expensive business of selling questionable quality milk and stuff for perpetual profit in a neighbouring school near you. They also can't go secure huge contracts from MOE that costs 3-4 times needed to build and expand on these lands and buildings.

The Retaliation:

The UMNO-controlled MOE retaliates by refusing to pay for the capex - everything to do with more classroom, furniture, buildings, staffroom, toilet, fencing, sports facilities, utility, infrasturcture, etc. Naturally.

MOE still pays for the personnel - or else it would have even less leverage over the headmasters, admin and teachers. It wouldn't have been able to summon these staff to time-wasting, brainwashing, school-intefering, multi-day, seminars that cost another set of bombs to stage.

The Hardship:

So for their "recalcitrance," MOE makes sure the vernacular schools are the poor cousins in national education system - often having to beg for left over old desks, and chairs, etc, from nearby national schools where individual administrators are often very gracious to give.

Having refused them the capex, MOE also skims on the non-personnel operating expenses, such as for electricity, copiers, etc. Where some is provided, it is often indirectly via the completely unreliable crony contractors, such as for "security" guards service that are really insecure.

Then why do vernacular schools hold out?

Fortunately, by refusing to give up school land and building to MOE (unlike the well-intended but more naive missionary schools that did not insist on this), the vernacular schools got to keep their board of directors or trustees.

This is a crucial governance tool:

When there's a need for more capital expenditure, where school building expansion is constantly needed (wonder why) - the schools have had to turn to the board of directors to raise the funds. (The nationalists' most-hated NGO Dongzhong is their umbrella organization). It's always hard to raise money.

The accountability:

These board of trustees have to go yearly to the local communities to raise funds, to beg - one way or another - to promise quality, accountability, performance, more responsive teachers, better discipline, moral standards, safety, better traffic flow despite the hugely distorted student body ... in short everything good in education ....

They have to deliver on these promises to the local sponsoring businesses, hawkers, parents, beer companies, religious bodies, ... basically all stakeholders. For example, part of the money raised during the ghost season which noise annoys you so much always go to a local vernacular school. Often also part of the money you contribute to a funeral wake. (Is there a better model for local accountability and transparency in education?).

The personality:

These members of board of directors can be brash and confident - they have to - to take responsibility, do marketing, protect the head master/mistress from more MOE meddling, etc. Their independent characters grate on the MOE but they get things done. They guard the school like it is their own garden, to grow, to bloom. It is often their remaining purpose in life. They are accomplished business people who know how to grow things - business and people.

The motivation:

They do this for what? Because that is often the highest purpose in life for them - often doing it out of respect for their own deceased parents - who probably nagged them more than a few times: Son, if you can, when you can, make sure to improve our schools for the children.

The result:

Here you have it - The board of directors or trustees system - the decentralized power structure that the nationalists don't want to highlight in case you also ask for it. That is why Mahathir and others hate them so much. (By programming the media to hate DJZ automatically, they stop you from seeing how the educational system can be cleaned up and improved.) Yet they accomplish so much.

Study: Chinese schools may be main schools in 10 years

With the current trend of lopsided enrolment in school along racial lines, this may yet become a reality.

Back in the early 90s, when I was attached with a bank, I was invited by the Headmistress of a premier girls school in the Klang Valley to give her Form 5 Commerce students a talk on banking as a career. 

Since I was early, I was given a tour of the premise, and to my utter surprise, I noticed that each classroom had no less than ten Malay girls studying in it.  They were giving their presentations in Mandarin in front of the class, writing calligraphy and in the cafeteria, there were students with their Chinese friends discussing their lessons together.  What a contrast from national type schools where groups along racial lines were more apparent.

I was told to give my talk in English and this was part of the plan preparing the students for the real world, communication in English, and all Qs and As addressed to me after the talk were to be in English too.  No Mandarin, no BM.

According to the Headmistress, the school was facing a 10% incremental increase of bumi students to the school each year and they were trying their best to cope, especially the provision of facilities like prayer rooms, halal food, etc.

The following report, therefore, came as no surprise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A two-year research carried out by the National Education Advisory Council reveals that in 10 years, Chinese schools may turn into mainstream schools.

They may even replace national schools and are likely to be more multiracial, as the number of Malay parents registering their children stands at 18 per cent this year.

Recently retired council member Prof Dr Teo Kok Seong said national schools registered only four per cent non-Malay students while the Chinese schools had 18 per cent non-Chinese students.

“These numbers (in Chinese schools) are expected to go up each year. Our research shows these vernacular schools, within 10, years are likely to become the mainstream schools as more non-Chinese parents are refusing to sign up their kids in national schools,” he told FMT.

He was asked to comment on the preferred choice of education and schools for parents registering their children.

He said the Education Ministry’s 2013-2025 Education Blueprint target of attracting more Chinese and Indian students to national schools was likely to fail by 2025 as their research showed more parents were planning to register their children in vernacular or private schools.

The study carried out by the 13-member council made up of educationists, corporate figures and former top-level education department officers, listed five main reasons keeping middle and upper income parents away from national schools.

The first was poor teaching and delivery methods by the teachers; second, the administration of national schools was dominated by one race; third, the schools were seen as being too Islamic; fourth, disciplinary issues were seen as a major problem; and finally, some schools were not maintained well, with outdated computers.

He said recommendations were made to allow teachers who were good in a particular subject to be appointed head of the subject so that the teacher would be able to guide other teachers well.

“For instance, if an Indian teacher is good in English, that teacher should be heading that unit. But instead, preference is given to someone else who is not capable of guiding others. It is the same with a school’s principal. The head of the school should be someone who is most capable to run a school.
“There should not be preference according to a race. Parents just want someone who is capable of teaching and disciplining their kids. If this can be done, the government will be able to regain confidence and attract more non-Malays into national schools.”

He said there was a constant clash between Muslim and non-Muslim parents. He said following several forums organised by the council, they found that Muslim parents felt there was not enough teaching of Islam in national schools while non-Muslim parents were not in favour of having religious recitations during the school assembly.

Teo, a professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said non-Muslim parents were uncomfortable with audio recordings reciting religious songs during the school assembly.

“There is a constant tug-of-war on this issue, causing many non-Muslim parents to send their children to Chinese schools or to private schools. It is a sensitive issue and there seems to be no end to the discussion between parents.”

As for Malay parents, they were concerned about the quality of education. “They are concerned that national school teachers are not putting in their best for their child’s education. They are concerned their child might not be able to catch up with the fast moving world.”

He said most of the Malay parents wanted their children to excel in mathematics and loved the up-to-date computer and sports facilities offered at Chinese schools. “They know their children are in good hands.”

In March this year, President of the Association of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman told a news portal that national schools had become de facto Malay schools, and that this hampered the fostering of unity among races.

He said there were only Malays in these schools and labelled national schools Malay secondary schools.

[Source: FMT]

More non-Chinese in SJKCs?

There is a steady increase in the enrolment of non-Chinese pupils in Chinese schools in Malaysia over the last five years. As the fertility rate of Chinese Malaysians continues to drop, so does the enrolment of Chinese pupils in Sekolah Jenis Kebangssan Cina (SJKC), but the reverse is happening with non-Chinese pupils.

In just five years, the ratio of non-Chinese to Chinese pupils studying in SJKCs has doubled. In 2010, there was one non-Chinese for every 10 Chinese pupils in SJKCs, and this has grown to two non-Chinese for every 10 Chinese pupils in 2014.

The number of Chinese pupils in SJKC has reduced from 539,621 in 2010 to 483,852 in 2014 while the number of non-Chinese pupils increases from 72,443 in 2010 to 87,463 in 2014. This shows a 10.3 per cent drop in Chinese pupil enrolment at SJKCs.

On the other hand, non-Chinese pupil enrolment went up by 20.7 per cent. The sharp and steady increase is despite pressure by opponents of SJKCs asking for the closing of vernacular schools in Malaysia as they purportedly lead to racial segregation.

This shows that fellow citizens of non-Chinese descent, especially non-Chinese parents of children in Chinese schools, are not buying into this fallacy. It is also a testimony of their confidence in SJKC, which a person of high political office has finally acknowledged.

In endorsing Chinese schools, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem hit out at Putrajaya’s policy of not recognising the Unified Examinations Certificate (UEC), calling it stupid and senseless.
The UEC is a standardised examination taken by students in all 60 Chinese independent secondary schools in the country. A number of international universities, including the prestigious Oxford University in the United Kingdom, recognise the qualification.

However, Putrajaya does not recognise the UEC on the ground it does not follow the national education curriculum. Adenan’s argument is that failure to recognise the UEC will lead to a brain drain and exodus of talent to countries which recognised the qualification.


While this move by Sarawak has resulted in a tug of war between the state and federal government over the recognition of the UEC, SJKCs continue to face several problems.
Based on the national census in 2010, fertility rate of the Chinese declined the most among all races. It has declined from 2.6 per cent  in 2000 to 1.5 per cent in 2010.

Figures from Education Ministry show that up to 2011, 96 per cent of Chinese pupils are in Chinese primary schools, an increase of 4 per cent compared with 92 per cent in year 2000. Due to the low fertility rate, the number of Chinese pupils in Chinese primary school has reduced by 55,769 in the past four years while non-Chinese pupils increase by 15,020.
The drop in Chinese pupil enrolment is leading to the closure of smaller SJKCs in remote areas. However, the situation is different in urban areas as non-Chinese have pushed up the pupil populations in these schools.

Close to half of pupils in two Chinese primary schools in Kuala Lumpur are non-Chinese, with SJKC St Teresa having 45 per cent non-Chinese pupils and SJKC Sentul Pasar Peng Meng having 40.8 per cent of non-Chinese pupils.

Non-Chinese pupils in SJKC Sam Yok and SJKC Chiao Nan are in the range between 30 and 40 per cent  while non-Chinese pupils in four Chinese primary schools – SJKC Chung Hwa Girl’s School, SJKC Kong Hon, SJKC Sentul and the newly opened SJKC Wangsa Maju  – are between 20 and 30 per cent.

The other problem faced by SJKCs is their locations in business district and they face traffic congestion. Plans are afoot to relocate SJKC St Teresa, SJKC Lai Ming and SJKC Imbi to overcome this problem and change the distribution of SJKCs in Kuala Lumpur.


[Source: The Heat]

The PEMANDU report on the need to bring English back to our education system.

Now read the full news report and view the three videos released by PEMANDU that highlight the urgency of bringing English back into the mainstream of our education system. The current condition is what I would describe as pathetic that secondary students could not even string a simple sentence nor the ability to read or write the language. A survey was done and 90% of the respondents agree it is time for the government to urgently address the issue. Are we too late already?

The PEMANDU report.

Teacher Hasnah Omar from SK Bukit Beruntung in Selangor says even to get one person to read in class takes a lot of patience. A series of video clips by Pemandu seeks to drive home the importance of mastering English language, following a survey which showed the poor grasp of the language among school students. – GTP Roadmap Youtube, November 6, 2015. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pemandu-videos-underscore-need-for-english-proficiency#sthash.AHuhm7Cx.dpuf

Teacher Hasnah Omar from SK Bukit Beruntung in Selangor says even to get one person to read in class takes a lot of patience. A series of video clips by Pemandu seeks to drive home the importance of mastering English language, following a survey which showed the poor grasp of the language among school students. – GTP Roadmap Youtube, November 6, 2015. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pemandu-videos-underscore-need-for-english-proficiency#sthash.AHuhm7Cx.dpuf

Happy Birthday, Mrs Ee

Mrs Dorothy Ee or Mrs Ee, as she was affectionately called, was my History teacher in 1964 and 1965 at the Cochrane Road Secondary School in Kuala Lumpur.  She was not only a very strict teacher but a good teacher too that somehow, her teachings of the subject got me interested in world politics.

Even long after many of us have left school, she still kept in touch with us and twice we ended up helping her to move house.  The last time I saw her was in 1979 when she dropped by at my office to make a booking for a condo unit in Taman Desa.  That was 35 years ago.  Since then, I have tried locating her but failed until November last year, I managed to trace her to a home for the elderlys.  The place is called "The Green Pastures Rest Home" located in Damansara Perdana.

I dropped by to visit her and was told she was suffering from dementia.  I chatted with her for one and a half hour, but it was more of a monologue conversation as she could not remember nor the ability to speak well.

On April 30, two days ago, four ex-Cochraneans and I decided to give her a surprise birthday party, and there was nothing like bringing cheer to her now that she is in her twilight years.  This was the least we could do for the all the years spent in moulding us to what we are today.

From L-R (the old boys of CRS): Chong Chee Ling, Mah Kong Howe, Timothy Heng, Billy Ong, Loh Meng Chee.

During our visit, we had the pleasure in meeting the owner of the home, Pastor Leon Lim and his wife, Lydia Looi. Both husband and wife built up the homes which comprised of several old Semi-D houses located in a secluded area of Damansara Perdana, surrounded by lush greeneries.

Pastor Leon Lim (left) and blogger

Didn't MIC Kalamanathan said that our English was better that Singapore's?

Just a little too early for April jokes

Faced with criticism over the country's falling standards in the English language, Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan today peddled a survey which he said showed Malaysians' command of English is in fact better than Singapore’s.

Furthermore, Kamalanathan said, Malaysia is ranked number one among Asian countries.

"We are number one and you will be happy to know that behind us is Singapore.

"And this is not what I said. I've given you the reference point.

They give you a good explanation on how this research is done and where we are," he told a students’ conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was referring to the English Proficiency Index which is done by Sweden-based EF Education First.

According to Kamalanathan, Education First is a research website which focuses on the usage of English in the business community among 65 countries in which English is not a native language.

"When we are doing well, we don't talk about it, but when we do something bad, everyone talks about it," he told students at the conference titled ‘Moderation: Youth Empowerment and Education Towards Vision 2020’ by What Youth Should Know.

‘Only top managers can speak English’

Social activist Marina Mahathir (below), who was also present at the conference, however, was skeptical about the survey results.

She countered that those who are proficient in English are usually the top managerial level and that staff at the lower rank are not able to converse in English, especially during jobs interviews.

"But most companies are made up of few managers and a lot of staff. Talk to the one right at the bottom.

"When we interview people, they can't speak (English). That's where they are coming in right?" she asked.

Previously, Education Minister II Idris Jusoh had also insisted the country's higher education system is on par with those of developed nations such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia.

Idris made his statement, citing the 2014 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Ranking, in which Universiti Malaya was ranked at the 151st position, out of 400 top institutions in the world.


[Source: Malaysiakini]

Remembering my old History teacher from Cochrane Road School

February 12 2015 was the day that left me totally overwhelmed with happy memories. For 35 years, I have been trying to locate my favourite history teacher, Mrs Dorothy Ee, but was in vain. Then some old Cochraneans started a FB page for the ex-students and as we communicated, we gradually narrowed our discussions to this particular teacher. I am the only member from the 60s period in the group while the rest are from the 70s.

An effort was made and after two and a half months of search, I finally managed to locate her at a nursing home, My Father's Place, in Damansara Perdana. This information was quickly fed to the group and I could feel the air of excitement exuded from the members.

Finally, that morning I drove to visit her and on the way, I kept thinking what am I supposed to say when I meet her.

As I entered the home and there she was seated in the deck chair in the living room looking quite frail and feeble. She didn't talk much but that didn't deter me in carrying out a monologue with her. However, she gradually came round to me.

It was their lunch break and she was spoon fed by a Filipino helper. It was just plain kway teow soup with minced meat.

I spent one hour and fifteen minutes with her with me doing all the talking and she doing all the nodding. I was hoping that I won't bore her to death with all my yakkety yak. In between, she chipped in with a couple of quips in English and Cantonese.

As I left the home, I felt so much of sadness knowing that a once robust human being with so much drive and who taught us History in Form 4 & 5, and General Paper in Form Six is now reduced to a frail human being. She was a disciplinarian but we knew deep inside, she had a soft spot for some of us that even long after we have left school, she still kept in touch with us.

After her tenure with Cochrane ended, she assumed her new post as the headmistress of Pudu English Girls School.

Now, what shall we do with this fella?

Shall we make a police report, bring him to court, charge him for inciting hatred among the various races, sentence him to a jail term for an indefinite period, lock him up and then throw away the key? And to think we are sending our kids to the national type schools to be educated this way.  

Oh my goodness, is this what they teach in schools these days?

With this kind of brain washing education system, no way am I sending my kids to national type schools.  UMNO Baru have itself to blame.

The Malaysian Education Standard by Dr J B Lim

                                            

 

(Note:  In response to a press report on April 7, 2013 that Malaysians failed to gain admission into the World’s most prestigious Harvard University for the second year in a row due to a slide in the quality of Applicants, the Blogger's most learned e-buddy Dr JB Lim has the following to say)

 

If I were to relate to you my experiences with all these local graduates, especially those from public universities, let alone school leavers trying to enter universities in the United Kingdom like Oxford, Cambridge or at St Andrews University, or those in the United States like Harvard, Princeton, MIT, CIT, you will laugh at the atrocious standard of our Malaysian educational standard especially in Science .    It would take me pages after pages to recount my experiences.

 

Very briefly :

 

1. You ask them a simple question in English, they can only reply in Bahasa Malaysia.

 

2. You ask them a simple technical question in the area they study in the university, they will be stunt.    They will just stare at you ; look up at the ceiling instead of looking at you.  You will wait for 1 - 2 minutes for them to answer.  When you repeat the question once again, they will just smile at you. They just don’t seem to know.

 

3. I have been a previous external examiner to some of the undergraduate students studying in local universities.    When I asked them questions, not only do they just remained silent & just smiled and showed their teeth, but they gave irrelevant and out-of-point answers .  They told me they have not studied that before. When I asked them, then what did they study, they replied points that were neither here nor there.  I just can’t believe it. But their lecturers who sat beside me as an observer during the oral examination told me these were taught to them although not in great detail.

 

 

Anyway, I have never failed any student even if they cannot answer.    During the oral examination even if they cannot answer,  I would explain to them, and gave them the answer. I then asked them to promise me that they will remember what I told them before I let them go with a pass.  So for compassionate reasons, none has ever failed under my hands.

 

4. Over the last 10 years I have also been one of the International Judges for ITEX for all the local public universities, and a few private universities competing with each other with their research inventions and innovations. I found most of their research, discoveries and inventions by academics and postgraduates students below expectations.

 

 

A few years ago, a Malay female M.Sc. student from the University of Malaya even tried to bluff me and my co-judge that she boiled a flower extract in water for over 180 degrees Celsius, and she found the colour of the flower extract heat remained stable. This instantly caught me by surprise because water at normal atmosphere can never exceed 100 deg C.  So I asked her if she used some kind of very special very high pressure cooker to boil the water. To my surprise she said no  . . .  ’just boil it with water in a beaker.’

 

Instantly I failed her. Her professor (a Chinese lady) who was standing behind her to give her support could not defend her, because I was one of the International Judges evaluating the quality of inventions put up by local public (some from overseas)  universities.

 

I would have forgiven her if she was only a Form 1 or Form 2 school student.    I would have taught her that water can only boil at 100 deg C under sea level atmospheric pressure. But she was doing her Master of Science degree from what was supposed to be the best and oldest university in Malaysia.

 

5. My drug company employs a few science graduates, including qualified professional nutritionists graduated from UPM and UKM. During my conversation with some of them about nutritional diseases and methods to diagnose them,  surprisingly they told me they have not heard of these deficiency diseases, let alone identify their clinical feature and diagnose them.

 

I remember at London where I studied nutrition, we were drilled through and through on the clinical features of all the nutritional disorders until we were truly expert in identifying every one of them.    Both my external examiners were from the Department of Medicine from Cambridge. Both were Jews and Professors appointed by the University of London to examine us. I remember during the oral exams they would show us clinical slides of nutritional diseases, and ask us to make a diagnosis.

 

 

 

We could do this with ease because our London professors (also all Jews – all walking encyclopedias. The Jews are a very highly intelligent race that hold almost all the chairs of university departments in the UK) have already drilled us very expertly in this area among many other branches. We have no trouble at all answering our external examiners from Cambridge .

We never smiled, remained silent and stared at the ceiling like what I experienced with our local university students when you examined them.

 

The academic standards between British and Malaysian universities are worlds apart.     There is totally just no comparison at all – even in the 1960’s the academic standards of British universities are far higher than those of Malaysian universities in 2012.

 

 

6. I have also been a Chairman of scientific sessions where research papers were presented by academics and post-doctoral researchers in scientific congresses. I just can’t believe the sub-standard quality of their papers which I think even a good Upper Form Six student from another country can do better.

 

When I was at the University of London doing my postgraduate way back in the early 1960s the quality of papers from British Universities were so high that we, even as postgraduate students, find it very difficult to understand .  They were all so good, so professional and so specialized.   Their papers were beyond us. Even way back in the 1960s, their papers were full of data, statistics and mathematical analysis of the experimental data done in a very sophisticated and elegant way.  It was so professional.

But when our Malaysian university academics present a paper at a scientific conference, they only show pictures and photos, and seldom any research data.

 

Here in Malaysia in the 2010s, I feel very bored and sleepy especially after lunch as chairman for the afternoon sessions trying to listen to our local postgraduates’ sub-standard papers .    Their slides were just pictures and photos taken with a camera.    There is seldom any statistic or data to back up what they were trying to present.    But they call it ‘presenting a research paper’.

 

So with the sub-standard knowledge of our local students, their professors and subsequent education how can they ever hope to enter Harvard University ? They are crying for a blue moon in their dreams .

 

JB Lim

 

 

 A proud Dr J B Lim with his daughter, Ai Hsing, graduated with BSc (Hons) in Engineering from Liverpool John Moore University.

Not happy? You can send your children overseas to study

Those who have no confidence in the country’s education system as outlined in the National Education Blueprint can send their children to study abroad, said Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (pic).

“If some people feel the system is not good and want to send their children overseas to study, the government cannot stop them. But the Ministry will work towards improving the country’s education system," said Idris after a forum in Shah Alam today.

Idris Jusoh, you must be a very happy man to know that your own BN leaders have already shown that they themselves are not happy with the education system here and have long been sending their children all over the world to be educated except in their own country.  So, what say you, eh?

Now, UMNO Baru can understand the Chinese passion for education, and it is like sacred

SWEATING FOR EDUCATION

Recently I came across this delightful story of determination, compassion and radical generosity.

In 1987, a 74-year old rickshaw puller by the name of Bai Fang Li came back to his hometown planning to retire from his backbreaking job. There, he saw children working in the fields, because they were too poor to afford school fees.

Bai returned to Tianjin and went back to work as a rickshaw puller, taking a modest accommodation next to the railway station. He waited for clients 24 hours a day, ate simple food and wore discarded second-hand clothes he found. He gave all of his hard-earned earnings to an unknown orphanage that takes care of over 300 orphans in Tianjin. This orphanage also runs a school for the orphans and other poor children in the area.

In 2001, he drove his rickshaw to Tianjin YaoHua Middle School, to deliver his last instalment of money. Nearly 90 years old, he told the students that he couldn’t work any more. All of the students and teachers were moved to tears.

In total, Bai had donated a total of 350,000 yuan to help more than 300 poor students continue with their studies. In 2005, Bai passed away leaving behind an inspiring legacy.

ONE QUOTATION TO WALK WITH

"It is OK that I suffer, as long as the poor children have something to eat and that they can have a proper education. I am happy just to do all these things." | Bai Fang Li 

How could they do this to our kids just because they are non-Muslims?

I know this news have already gone viral on the internet, but all the same, I am posting the photo here to demonstrate my disgust at how UMNO Baru is treating our kids.  The canteen was closed as the Muslim pupils were on fast, but does that mean, that the toilet would be the best alternate place for the kids to have their meals?  Our educationalists may not be smart, but by doing what they did, doesn't that expose their idiocy?

How could the school authorities say that it was a shower room when it is clearly seen in the picture above that it is a toilet.  Read more here.

Would our UMNO leaders, Hasan Ali, Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin and Ridhuan Tee have said the same thing that Malala Yousafzai said

The following is an extract from John Dean's article, "Malala's message to Malaysia".

And if there’s one contemporary symbol and personification of such daring, it is Malala Yousafzai, the young Muslim girl who was shot by the Taliban last October for the “crime” of attending school.

In her recent address to the United Nations General Assembly on the occasion of her 16th birthday, Malala put the advocates and supporters of warring sectarian “truths” to shame by speaking of “the compassion I have learned from Muhammad, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha... the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela (right) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah... (and) the philosophy of non-violence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Theresa.”

Later in her eloquent and intelligent address, she criticised those who misuse Islam, “a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood”, for their own personal benefit, before closing with the clarion call for the world to use education “to wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.”

Remember Malala Yousafzai?

Malālah Yūsafzay, born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She is known for her education and women's rights  activism in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending schools. In early 2009, at the age of 11–12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai began to rise in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television and taking a position as chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat. She has since been nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu and the Nobel Peace Prize, being the youngest nominee in history for the latter. She is the winner of Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize.

On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus. In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the  Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in the United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwa against those who tried to kill her, but the Taliban reiterated its intent to kill Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin.
Former British Prime Minister and current U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a United Nations petition in Yousafzai's name, using the slogan "I am Malala" and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Brown said he would hand the petition to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardariin November. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has announced on 10 November that 12 July, the birthday of Malala Yousafzai will be celebrated as Malala Day.

In the 29 April 2013 issue of Time magazine, Malala was featured on the magazine's front cover and as one of "The 100 Most Influential People In The World". Her section was written by Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Tun Daim Zainuddin and his take on English

Tun Daim is to be lauded for his stand on making English a compulsory subject in schools. 

“Without English, we are dead, especially the Malays. The Malays must realise, without English they cannot compete. We must insist on English as a second language.” 

One only has to tune into China’s CCTV [Astro Channel 509], its global English language television, to realise how important English is to China and its progress. How did this country, which could only speak the language of Communism not too long ago, overtake a country like ours which was at one time schooled in Queen’s English? Perhaps we should learn from China how to teach English instead of trying to speak Beijing Mandarin. 

Food for thought - the New Education Blueprint

Can someone please tell me this.  If our education system is so good as claimed by certain UMNO leaders and our students are getting 'As' by the basket loads, why do we still need the New Education Blueprint?  After all, some UMNO leaders even claim our education system was the best there is compared to others in the world.  Or is it because, the UMNO leaders have finally come to their senses that our education system was in the pits and therefore needed a blueprint?  If this is the case, can I safely then say, prior to the introduction of the blueprint, our system was bad or at best, mediocre?  Which leads to one conclusion, that the students who have been scoring straight 'As' are not what it seems.  The 'As' by international standards could be a dud? That, my friends, it is then safe to surmise that all children who received their education prior to the blueprint, have their future compromised.  Many parents must be feeling sore as I do.  Now I wonder how good is the New Education Blueprint.  Can it turn out world beaters at best or continue to produce 'jaguh kampongs' at worst?

Now, UMNO is profiling our kids

In the aftermath of September 11, a number of our Muslim leaders were subject to tight security check whenever they travelled to a foreign country.  They were not happy as the authorities in these countries profiled them as potential terrorists.

But if one was to study the Malaysian political scenario, UMNO in fact is the master of profiling - bumiputras/non-bumiputras, Muslim/non-Muslims, Semenanjung/East Malaysia, Malays/non-Malays, etc. which clearly reflect that if you belong to one and not the other, you can either be advantaged or disadvantaged.

Now on the latest profiling act.  UMNO has issued guidelines on how to spot (I would rather use the word 'snitch') on children who possess the trade marks of either a gay or lesbian.  For heaven's sake, these are just kids and we do not need to subject them to more stress.  During my school days, I had friends who behaved alot more on the feminie sides but it had never bothered me in the least.  One of them even spent time coaching me in my Maths in which I was totally hopeless.  Some of them were on the Prefect Board, librarian heads and some even participated in robust sports.  Life as it is in school is already tough on them.  Do we have to subject them to further discriminatory acts?

So what are the symptoms of a Gay?  Well, according to the UMNO guideline, there are :

• Have a muscular body and like to show their body by wearing V-neck and sleeveless clothes;
• Prefer tight and light-coloured clothes;
• Attracted to men; and Like to bring big handbags, similar to those used by women, when hanging out.

I am not sure about the 'handbag' thingy, but don't the first two describe a popular figure I know on the silver screen?

 

So, is Chuck Norris gay?

 

[Churck Norris is an 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master in Tae Kwan Do. On July 1, 2000, Norris was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame. In 1999, Norris was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum's Hall of Fame]

 



Religion is one thing, and the personal life of the individual is another.  How the person turn out to be was not of his own choosing.  Just like I did not ask to be born a Chinese, but I was and now it is up to me to make the best use of my life.  This equally applies to my Malay, Indian, Kadazan, Iban friends.  Likewise, nobody wanted to be born a gay or lesbian but now they are born that way, they have to make use of the lives to contribute the best they can to society, and not a menace some straight people I know.

Now meet Dr Jessie Chung, the person who underwent a sex change and later married an accountant in 2005.  A year ago, she received her PhD in Chinese herbal medicine from a university in China and is now a successful entrepreneur.  Isn't she a positive contributor to society?

All I have to say is, LIVE AND LET LIVE .....